Testimony will continue Monday in the trial of a woman charged with first-degree murder in her coworker’s death at an upscale Bethesda yoga store.
The trial for 29-year-old Brittany Norwood began last week in Montgomery County Circuit Court. Prosecutors say she savagely beat 30-year-old Jayna Murray to death at the Lululemon Athletica store where they worked in March.
State’s Attorney John McCarthy said Murray suffered 322 injuries in a horrific fight between the two women on March 11. A medical examiner is expected to detail those wounds to the jury this week. Norwood’s attorney is not contesting that she killed Murray, but says the slaying was not premeditated and she should not be convicted of first-degree murder.
Police found the pair at the store the morning of March 12; authorities say Norwood pretended to be a victim, telling officials she had been sexually assaulted, to cover up the slaying.
Prosecutors have not described a motive to the jury of six men and six women deciding Norwood’s fate. In previous court hearings, McCarthy has said that a Lululemon manager suspected Norwood was stealing from the store and asked Murray to look in her bag for evidence of stolen merchandise.
